Loose-leaf perforator.



' PATENTED JUNE 25. 1907.

L; M. MORDEN.

LOOSE LEAP PERFORATOR. Q

PPPP IGATION FILED MAY 5, 1904;

. l r I; "W i v I M E5 3 I PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

L. .M. MORDBN, LOOSE LEAF PBRFORATORJ APPLIUATION FILED MAY 5 1904.

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LUCENA M. MORDEN', OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

LOOSE-LEAF PERFORATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1907.

Application filed 'May 5,1904:- $erial N0. 206,489,

To (LN 11/100711, it ntay concern:

Be it known that I, LUOENA M. MoRDEN, a citizen of the United States, of 59 Grand street, l/Vaterbury, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, whose post-office address is also the same, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Perforators, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to an improved construction for a loose leaf punch whereby it may be constructed more cheaply, and it also includes means for combining several punches together upon a suitable base, with a seat at one edge of the base, and means for clamping the sheets of paper thereon during the punching operation.

Means for adjusting punches at different distances upon a base have been heretofore used, but made of relatively expensive constructions, and in order to furnish a cheaper article which can be purchased by all who use sheets of paper with perforations along the edge, I form the punching device with a sheet metal foot having integral flanges bent upwardly to form ears upon which the handlever is pivoted, and in which a notch is formed to admit and guide the papers to the punch. The usual punching stud surrounded with an india-rubber stripper is employed, as well as the spring die often used in this class of punches, but the hand lever is formed. of sheet metal with side flanges by which it is jointed to the ears upon the foot, and which are also provided in the rear of the pivot with a heel to press upon the die spring, and in advance of the pivot with a toe to strike the die spring to limit the upward movement of the handle. The die spring is turned upwardly at the forward end to form a flaring mouth for the notch in which the papers are inserted. The foot is provided with a shank by which it may be fitted adj ustably upon a base, for conjoint use with similar punching devices, to punch two or more holes in the paper simultaneously, and such shank or foot is held elastically upon the base so that the punching devices may be adjusted readily at different distances apart, and be held in their adjusted positions by friction until a different adjustment is required.

side of the base; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the punching devices; Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section with lever depressed; Fig. 6 is a plan of the foot for the punching device; Fig. 7 is a plan of the foot with the spring die, the ears being in section on line 7, 7, in Fig. 4. Fig. 8 s a cross section of a perforator with flanged base, the section taken adjacent to one of the punching devices; and

Fig. 9 is a section at the pivot, on the same base, showing the spring connection for the paper clamp.

In Figs. 1 to 3, the base is shown of a flat strip a with longitudinal slot 1) by which the punching devices are guided, and the base has an offset near the front edge with sloping seat 0 by which the papers are guided to the die in the mouth of the punching device, and on which seat they are pressed during the perforating operation by the movable yoke d. The yoke consists of a wire with arms at at the ends, and the arms bent to form pivots which are flatted upon one side, against which a spring f is pressed; and operates against the corner of the flattened portion to press the yoke normally against the seat c. A loop 9 is attached to the mid die of the yoke to lift it for inserting the paper, and the spring operates upon the opposite rounded sides of the pivot to hold the yoke elevated when turned upwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. The punching device is shown with a foot h and hand-lever 1c, each of which is made cheaply by stamping from sheet metal, and formed respectively with cheeks h and flanges it upon the margin, to stiffen the construction and furnish the ears for pivoting them together by the rivet i. The ears .upon the cheeks h are formed with a notch 7L2 at the front side to admit the paper leaves for perforating; the bottom of the notch forming a gage for the edges of the paper leaves L. The punching device has the usual perforating stud surrounded by an india-rubber stripper-block Z, and the die-hole m is formed in a leaf spring a pivoted upon the foot IL. The sides of the spring are fitted closely to the cheeks h to guide the die, and the spring is widened in the notch kg to strengthen the die. The spring n holds the die normally raised, and the hand-lever k is pivoted near its forward end and provided with a cam-shaped heel 2) against which the spring normally presses. A transverse pin q is inserted through the ears of the flanges h in such position as to contact with the hand-lever 7c when the latter is depressed sufficiently to force the diehole on over the stud and thus effect the perforation of the paper. The front end of the spring at is curved upwardly to form a flaring mouth above the rubber block and stud to facilitate the introduction of the paper leaves, and the hand-lever is provided with a toe 7) extended forward of the pivot L, to contact with the spring and to arrest the upward movement of the lever. Pressure upon the hand-lever forces the heel downward upon the spring n and crowds the die upon the stud, and the resiliency of the spring raises the hand-lever again when the pressure is removed.

The foot of each' punch is provided, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, with a shank r fitted to the slot 1) in the base, to hold the punching device square with the base, and the punching device is held adjustably by the leafspring 8 secured to the shank by a rivet or the screw t, such spring having its ends fitted a little into the slot to hold it parallel therewith. The tension of the spring holds the punches firmly in their adjusted positions,

and retains them at any given distance apart.

at which they may be set. The base a is supported upon a suitable bed a which is shown of wood and formed in the upper side with a longitudinal recess 1) to clear the spring 8 and its screw. The longitudinal recess 4) is necessarily formed in the bed a just below, and in a line with the slot 1) which is formed in the base a, so as to clear the screw t and its nut which move along the slot. The bed is shown only in Fig. 2, Figs. 1 and 3 showing respectively the upper and under sides of the base separated from the bed.

The present invention furnishes a very cheap and simple-construction for a multipleX perforator, and it will be readily understood that the flat base with slot and offset, are cheaply formed of sheet metal; as well as the spring, the foot, and the hand-lever of the punching device. The yoke (Z which forms the paper clamp is made of wire, and the springs f which control it are straight leaves of sheet metal, and all the parts are thus made very cheaply, while the operation of the apparatus is entirely perfect. A still greater simplicity and accompanying cheapness may be secured by the alternative construction for the base shown in Figs. 8 and 9, in which the offset is bent to form an inwardly turned flange c, and a complementary flange c is turned at the opposite side of the base, and the foot-plate h of each punch ing device is formed at opposite ends to fit between the said flanges. The flanges being formed of sheet metal, exert an elastic grip upon the ends of the foot, which holds the punches in their adjusted position, as desired. With this construction, no slot is required in the base, nor any spring rivet or screw for securing the punching device in the slot. With this modification, the pivots of the clamping yoke are set above the base, and the leaf-springsf are fitted at their ends beneath the flanges c and 0 as shown in Fig. 9. To form bearings for the pivots of the clamp, lugs e are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 punched from the base and bent against opposite sides of the pivot wire, as is also shown in Fig. 9.

A rod to is shown in Figs. 1 and 8 extended through holes w in the flanges beneath the outer ends of the hand-levers 7c, by which rod all the hand-levers in a multiplex perforator may be depressed simultaneously, and the punching of a loose leaf thus effected by a single movement of the hand. The ends of the rod are each provided with a collar or screwhead to to prevent its detachment. The rod is fitted in the holes in the hand-levers loosely so that the punching devices may be adjusted to and from one another upon the base and the hand-levers simply slide upon the rod.

To gage the position of the paper sidewise upon the seat, an adjustable gage a is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 9 provided with a foot y fitted to the offset 0 of the metal base adjacent to the seat 0, and clamped to such offset by a screw 2. I The gage stands in a line with the openings h in the punching devices, to con tact with the edge of the paper. The offset is formed, as shown in Figs. 9 and 2, with a slot 2 to receive the screw 2, which permits the adjustment of the gage longitudinally along the seat. hen using a previously perforated sheet of paper as a gage to punch other sheets with holes at the same distance apart, it is generally very difficult to set the previously perforated hole in line with the punch of a perforating machine; but th1s is accomplished in the present construction by the following means.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the hand-lever 7c is shown with an aperture 7r over the die-hole m in the spring a, which permits the operator to see the die-hole and the sheet of paper 111- serted beneath the same. If a perforated sheet of paper be laid upon other perforated sheets and pushed beneath the die-hole, the operator can, through the aperture 76 see the perforation previously made in the upper sheet, and can adjust it accurately to the diehole, so that when the die is depressed the holes will be formed in the sheets beneath it in line with the previously perforated hole. here a sheet metal base is mounted upon a wooden bed, as shown in Fig. 2, the wooden bed may obviously be formed with the oflset instead of the metal base, so as to form a seat for the paper clamp near the level of the india-rubber block Z upon which the sheets are placed to be punched.

The construction shown is made wholly of sheet metal and wire and not only offers many advantages in its operation, but is correspondingly cheap in its manufacture.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

1. A punch for a loose leaf perforator, comprising the foot h and hand-lever is formed of sheet metal and provided respectively with the integral cheeks h and the flanges Zc the foot having the inverted perforating stud and stripper Z near its forward end, and the cheeks h provided with the notch h adjacent to such stud to gage the papers, the spring n attached to the rear end of the foot and extended over the stud and provided with the die-hole m, the spring being guided by the cheeks h, and the hand-lever is being pivoted to the checks by the pin 1' arranged above the stud and having the heel 19 extended backward along the hand-lever in contact with the spring, to depress the same in a perforating operation.

2. A punch for a loose leaf perforator, comprising the foot h and h and-lever 7c formed of sheet metal and provided respectively with the integral cheeks h and the flanges Zr, the foot having the inverted perforating stud andstripper Z near its forward end and the cheeks h provided with the notch 77, adjacent to such stud to gage the papers, the spring n extended over the stud and widened in the notch 7L2 and having the die m coincident with the stud j, and a hand-lever 7c being pivoted to the cheeks by the pin i above the stud j and having the heel 1) extended backward along the hand-lever in contact with the spring, to depress the same in the perforating operation.

3. A punch for a loose leaf perforator, comprising the foot h and hand-lever 7c formed of sheet metal and provided respectively with the integral cheeks h and the flanges Zr, the foot having the punching stud and stripper Z near its forward end, the spring n guided by the cheeks h and having the die coincident with the stud and the hand-lever k pivoted to the cheeks over the stud j, and having the heel p in the rear of the pivot adapted to press the spring downwardly, and the toe p in advance of the pivot to contact with the spring and arrest the upward movement of the hand-lever.

4. A loose leaf perforator, comprising the base a having a plurality of punching devices held adjustably thereon with an inverted punching stud projected upward near the front end of the foot in each of such devices, a continuous seat 0 extended continuously at one edge of the base-adjacent to the punching studs on a level with the same, lugs 6 near the end of the base, the clamping yoke d having arms d at the ends with pivots e fitted to such lugs, and means for pressing the yoke toward the seat 0, the yoke and seat operating to hold the paper throughout its entire width during the punching operation.

5. A loose leaf perforator, comprising the sheet metal base 0, having a plurality of punching devices held adjustably thereon, with an inverted punching stud projected upward near the front end of the foot in each of such devices, a continuous offset in the sheet metal of the base adjacent to the front ends of the said devices with the seat 0 extended therefrom, forming with the base a continuous integral guide for the paper leaves, the clamping yoke (Z having arms cZ at the ends with pivots upon the base, and means for pressing the yoke toward the seat 0, the yoke and seat operating to hold the paper throughout its entire width during the punching operation.

6. The loose leaf perforator, comprising the base a provided near the ends with the lugs e and having the inwardly turned flanges c and 0 with the continuous seat 0 connected to the flange c by integral offset, the plurality of punching devices having each the foot f held elastically by the two flanges and having punch and die operating as set forth, the wire clamp yoke d having the arms d provided with flatted pivots e fitted to the lugs e and leaf springs f engaged with the flanges c and c and pressed upon such pivots to hold the clamp normally upon the seat.

7. In a loose leaf perforator, the combina tion, with the base a having slot 1) as set forth, of independent punching devices hav ing each a shank projected through the slot, and the spring 8 and screw t for holding the shank elastically, to permit the free adjustment of the punching devices upon the base.

8. A loose leaf perforator having the base a with a plurality of independent punching devices held adjustably thereon, each punch having the foot h with the inverted perforating stud and stripper Z near the front end thereof, the spring n attached to the rear end of the foot and provided with the die at extended over the inverted stud, and the handlever is pivoted over the stud and extended backward along the hand-lever to depress the die in the perforating operation.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LUCENA M. MORDEN.

Witnesses:

THOMAS S. CRANE, L. LEE.

ITO 

